Inkjet recording has long been known as an image-forming process. In inkjet recording, there are outstanding demands for images of higher quality, faster printing speed and high-speed fixing performance, and from an ecological standpoint, there is an ever increasing demand for energy saving. Among these, the demand for a speed-up in the fixing process upon formation of an image and that for images of higher quality are surging. With a view to achieving these improvements, investigations have been made to develop a low-energy-consumption and high-speed fixing process in inkjet recording, resulting in proposals such as use of a reactive ink with a reactive colorant contained therein (see JP 8-253717 A) and use of a compound having reversible thermal gelation property (see JP 649399). However, there is still a larger room for improvements in high-speed fixing performance.
With a view to meeting the above-described demands, the present invention has as an object thereof the provision of a water-based inkjet printer ink (hereinafter simply called “ink” or “water-based ink”) which has excellent fixing property and permits stable ejection from nozzles and formation of images with good abrasion resistance, waterproofness and good marker resistance.